


is it cool if i sit with you?

by Echoe



Series: Femslash February [1]
Category: Sweet Elite (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, be it friendship or romance, i think... they have potential, the others are here too but not important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echoe/pseuds/Echoe
Summary: It's just a bunch of teenagers breaking into their school's pool, and two girls having a moment.
Relationships: Karolina Nováková/Claire Durand
Series: Femslash February [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175261
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	is it cool if i sit with you?

**Author's Note:**

> prompts : lights, pool
> 
> i literally never considered them romantically before but i did like to imagine their friendship and then i got fueled by spite. thats it  
> and then i decided to fit it into femslash february and picked prompts from an old list lmao

Claire's nervous.  
Of _course_ she's nervous.  
She's doing something _bad_.  
Not _morally_ bad, but bad as in _it's not allowed and she could get in trouble for it_.  
None of them should be doing this, really.  
(And yet, she's already changing into her swimsuit.  
It didn't take a lot of convincing.)

She doesn't quite remember who first had the idea.  
But once it was on the table, so many of her friends got excited.  
It was happening, one way or another.  
And since it was a group thing, Claire had to be there, too.  
Raquel told her it'd be fine.  
That she didn't have to worry.  
She didn't believe her, but she tried to quell her worries to make everyone happy.  
(She shared a look with Neha then, a "what are we getting ourselves into?" look, and it comforted her somewhat.)

And so here she is now, breaking into the school's pool with her friends.  
Some are quick to jump in without a care in the world, as if they didn't have to be discreet because, you know, they're trying _not_ to get caught.  
(It startles Claire, when Tyler first jumps in, quickly followed by Raquel, they're almost yelling as they do so, what are they thinking?  
She also quietly thinks to herself that it's dangerous, there's no light on yet aside from the shine of the full moon, they could get themselves hurt.  
Gosh, this is such a terrible idea.)  
Others are standing at the edge, either because they're waiting for Ellie and Tegan to figure out how to turn on the lights, or because like Claire they don't really know what to do.  
(She considers leaving for a second.  
It's not like anyone would notice, really.  
Oh, but what if they did?  
What if they got worried about her?  
What if she ruined the fun for them?  
She sighs.  
She can't leave.)

Suddenly a few lights turn on, not enough to blind her because it's not like they can turn on every light, that'd attract way too much attention, but enough to make her jump slightly.  
Now she can clearly see everything, she can see Raquel waving excitedly at her and she waves back, she can see Tadashi standing at the edge of the pool, squinting at the water, while Axel's creeping up behind him, she can see you carefully sliding into the water then screeching because Tyler swam over and splashed you-  
She smiles.  
She likes seeing everyone having fun.  
(She gets a bit worried when she hears Tadashi yell because Axel just pushed him in, but he seems okay physically and Alistair's quick to join them to make sure there's no murder, so it should be alright.)

Ellie and Tegan come back, the former looking shocked that they all began to have fun without her before proceeding to dive-bomb in, and Claire decides that maybe it's time for her to stop standing there awkwardly.  
She's not about to jump in too though, god no, she's not _that_ much of a criminal.  
Instead she opts for sitting on the edge of the pool, legs dangling in the cool water.  
(She has to admit, it feels nice.  
Summer nights can get pretty suffocating, so she appreciates how refreshing this is.)

She looks over to her friends once more, most are in the water now- save for Tegan who said he was going to be on watch, and Tyler who got out to join him so he wouldn't be alone, and-  
Actually, Neha _is_ in the water, surprisingly.  
(Claire feels strangely lonely at that, she thought Neha was on her side, is she the only one too scared to go in, in the end?  
But then she notices the offended look Neha's throwing you, sees you laughing, and Claire wonders if Neha really went in willingly.)  
Which leaves Claire alone there.  
Wait, no.  
Someone's missing-  
Someone's sitting next to Claire.

"You're not going to join them?"

She quickly turns her head, blinking rapidly at her new companion.

"Oh! Hi, Karolina. I didn't hear you."

Then she smiles awkwardly, her gaze focusing on Ellie climbing on Raquel's shoulders.

"And, to answer your question, no. I... I'm not really brave enough to."

Karolina raises an eyebrow at that.

"Brave?"

"I-I mean, we're... What we're doing isn't allowed." She looks down. "Just being here is already... a lot to me."

Karolina hums. "I see."

"What about you?"

It's strange for Claire to end up alone with Karolina.  
Claire wonders, for a second, if she has the same worries as her.  
Maybe she isn't too comfortable being here either-  
But, no, this is Karolina we're talking about, she isn't like Claire, she isn't a worrywart, nor a stickler for rules.  
Then again, she does care about her image, but as long as they don't get caught, it's not like she has anything to worry about.  
But what if they _did_ get caught? It'd be bad for Karolina. So maybe-  
Karolina frowns.

"I'm not going in. The water will ruin my hair."

Oh.  
Claire feels herself deflate a little.  
Of course Karolina wouldn't be scared like her.  
Well, that's not really surprising.  
Then, she watches Karolina vaguely gesture towards their friends.

"Also, I'm not getting into _this_ mess."

The mess in question being Ellie on Raquel's shoulders fighting Axel on Alistair's shoulders, while Tadashi and Neha are desperately trying to stay away from this and you're furiously splashing the fighters with water, trying to get one to fall.  
Claire blinks.  
She can kind of see why Karolina wouldn't want to get involved.  
They fall into silence after that, Claire staring worriedly at the scene.  
Someone's going to get hurt at this rate-  
She shakes her head.  
She needs to stop thinking about this. They'll be fine.  
... Probably.

She tries to distract herself by focusing on Karolina instead.  
Which.  
Which works really well, actually.  
Claire _knows_ Karolina's pretty, she'd have to be blind not to notice.  
But, oh, wow.  
Claire blames the light.  
The way it reflects on the water, then on Karolina, there's... there's something almost ethereal about it.  
(And then she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and Claire's heart skips a beat.)  
But that's not all-  
It's also about how peaceful Karolina looks.  
Just looking down, watching the ripples she causes on the surface of the water when she moves her legs, a small smile on her face...  
She seems so at ease.  
It's an odd sight to Claire.  
It makes her stare a bit too much, maybe.  
Karolina notices, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What is it?"

Claire blushes then, startled out of her reverie.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to stare-"

"It's fine," Karolina interrupts, rolling her eyes, "I'm used to it. Just not from you."

Claire looks away.  
This is really embarrassing.

"Sorry, y-you... Um... You looked really serene. I-It was nice."

That makes Karolina blinks confusedly.

"What?"

"I-I mean- it makes me happy, t-to see you so relaxed. I don't s-see that often."

"O-Oh."

There's an awkward silence then, and Claire peeks timidly at Karolina, trying to gauge her reaction.  
She's staring at her, mouth slightly open, looking taken aback.  
Claire isn't sure that's a good thing.  
She shouldn't have said anything-

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

Karolina looks away.

"... For caring."

(It feels odd, to Karolina.  
For someone to care about whether she's feeling _relaxed_ of all things or not.  
But Claire's right, she's always working so hard-  
It's rare for her to feel like this.  
She just didn't think anyone would notice, or comment on it.  
Not that she's complaining-  
It's... it's kind of nice.)

"O-Oh! Um, you're welcome! Although I don't think I did much..."

"You did more than you think."

"A-Ah?"

But Karolina doesn't elaborate further, focusing back on the water, leaving Claire with many questions that she'll never dare asking.  
(It helps Karolina somewhat, to be with Claire.  
Something about this girl's aura-  
It makes her feel at peace.  
That's why she chose to sit with her. She could have stayed alone if she wanted.  
There's something reassuring about Claire.  
Karolina doesn't feel the need to stay alert around her, to second-guess all of her actions.  
She's just darling angel Claire, in all her gentle, shy glory.  
Karolina's indulging, even though she doesn't think she deserves it.  
Claire's too caring for her.)

Though Claire's confused, she does feel a little happy.  
It seems like, maybe, she got a bit closer to Karolina?  
(Her train of thoughts pauses.  
... Why does it make her happy in the first place?  
It might be because she wants to know more about her.  
She knows there's more to Karolina than meets the eye.)

Sadly, all good things must come to an end.

"Guys, someone's coming!"

Oh, that's Tegan's voice.  
That's not good.  
Claire's throws a distressed look at Karolina who's already standing up, staring at her brother in panic.  
Quickly, everyone gets out of the water, Raquel and Alistair grabbing the two piles of clothes they'd left there just in case (they're not stupid enough to leave everything scattered around in the changing rooms, that's not efficient for a swift escape), while Ellie runs to turn off the lights.  
And so, as discreetly as a bunch of barefoot, swimsuit-clad teenagers (with most of them dripping wet) can, they sneak around the guard and back to their dorms, meeting up in Claire and Raquel's dorm just while they all get back their clothes.  
As she bids her friends goodnight, with a shy little wave for Karolina, Claire thinks that was more than enough adrenaline for a while.  
(But, still, she's glad she accompanied them.  
It was an interesting night.)

**Author's Note:**

> i am pushing my wlw agenda down ur throat so fucking hard


End file.
